Anthropologist, Educator, Author. Fredrik Barth was a prestigious Norwegian anthropologist and author. Born Thomas Fredrik Weybye Barth in Germany, he had Norwegian parents, Thomas Barth and Randi Thomassen Barth. He had one sister, Tone Barth Hveding. He was married twice, to Mary "Molly" Allee and in 1974 to anthropologist Unni Wikan. He started studying at the University of Chicago before London School of Economics then Cambridge University. After earning his PhD from Cambridge University, he introduced British-style social anthropology to Norway. One of his professors at Cambridge University was Sir Edmund Ronald Leach, a prominent British social anthropologist. After graduation, he created the Department of Anthropology at the University of Bergen, while being a professor from 1961 to 1974. His goal was to create a modern, world-class department with an approach similar to those found in England and the United States. Besides the University of Bergan, he was a professor in the Department of Anthropology at Boston University, and had previously held professorships at the University of Oslo, Emory University in Atlanta, and Harvard University. During his long career, he conducted acclaimed studies based on field work in Swat Valley of northern Pakistan, Bali, New Guinea, the area of Darfur in Sudan, and several other destinations in the Middle East. From his research, he published several books. His many publications include "Principles of Social Organization in Southern Kurdistan," "Political Leadership among Swat Pathans," "Nomads of South Persia," "The Role of the Entrepreneur in Social Change in Northern Norway," "Ritual and Knowledge Among the Baktaman of New Guinea," "Sohar: Culture and Society in an Omani Town," and "Balinese Worlds." In Norway, Barth began writing more purely theoretical works that secured his international reputation. These works included "Models of Social Organization" and especially the small yet very popular and edited volume, "Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: The Social Organization of Cultural Difference," published in 1969. Barth became the world's most influential scholar on the subject of ethnicity. His ethnicity studies focused on the ongoing negotiations of boundaries between groups of people. Besides his books, he was known for his 1979 four-episode series of lectures with videos of foreign destinations that were televised in Norway. He has been awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Edinburgh, University of Khartoum, University of Dacca, Memorial University of New Foundland, University of Bergen, and University of Zurich. He was a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and an international member of the American Academy of the Arts.